Monday, April 26, 2010

N.J. education chief warns legislators of voter wrath after school budget defeats | - NJ.com

N.J. education chief warns legislators of voter wrath after school budget defeats

By Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau

April 26, 2010, 1:15PM

Star-Ledger photoN.J. Department of Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, shown here being sworn in to testify at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, warned legislators today that they may suffer a similar fate of the failed school budget votes if they increase taxes on residents.

TRENTON -- In a warning to state lawmakers, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler this morning told members of a budget committee to be wary of raising taxes or risk being thrown out of office.

Schundler said voters could deliver a repeat performance of last week's rejection of 58 percent of school budgets, which he attributed to taxpayers who were fed up with paying for rising benefits and salaries through higher property, income and sales tax rates.

"New Jerseyans know that raising taxes is not the answer," he said. "We need to listen to the voters, lest next year 60 percent of elected officials be rejected."

Previous coverage:

• N.J. voters send message of discontent by shooting down school budgets

• Gov. Chris Christie says N.J. school budget defeats should serve as 'wake up call'

• Two Essex County school election races hang on provisional ballots

• N.J. public school breakfast, private school lunch subsidies to be cut

• Gov. Chris Christie says school budget election results are proof that N.J. voters want change

• Majority of N.J. school budgets rejected for the first time since 1976

• N.J. voters reject school budgets in heated elections

• N.J. school elections Q&A: What happens when school budgets fail

Democrats have criticized Gov. Chris Christie's proposed $29.3 billion budget for not reinstating a tax increase on income over $400,000. Lawmakers in both houses of the state legislature are up for election in 2011.

Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) said Schundler should watch his words, because they could boomerang on his boss. Greenwald and other Democrats argue that Christie's cuts to municipal and school aid, property tax rebates and other items will result in high property tax increases and more money out of taxpayer's pockets.

"I think the governor should be very worried about that comment," Greenwald said. "He's had probably the single largest tax increase on property taxpayers than any governor since I've been here."

Schundler is testifying in front of the Assembly Budget Committee, his second time in front of the legislature during this year's budget hearings. Schundler said local property taxes that pay for schools likely will go up 4 percent or less this year, which he said was lower than the average increase over the past 10 years. The average New Jersey property tax bill last year rose 3.3 percent, the smallest increase in a decade and the second year in a row taxes were increased less than 4 percent.

Christie's proposed budget cuts $820 million from school funding, sending

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

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Posted: Monday, April 26, 2010 9:08 am

I'm back from the weekend. Who wants some education news?

The Union-Tribune explains how San Diego Unified is overhauling its administrative offices.

We blog that the San Diego Unified board will weigh whether students should stop being required to take an Advanced Placement exam in order to get a higher grade in an AP class.

Also in the U-T: Crawford High is going to give a diploma to the first female Somali Bantu student to graduate from the school. Online lockers are helping students get their work on the web.

And the U-T also reports that San Diego Unified's resigned finance chief is still on the payroll -- but hasn't done any work yet.

The Orange County Register has a wonderful big picture look at why school districts across the state are eyeing the teachers' strike in San Juan Capistrano.

The Same Old (Jason) Song: Maybe He Should READ The LAUSD Fine Print - Perdaily.com

The Same Old (Jason) Song: Maybe He Should READ The LAUSD Fine Print

by Leonard

I don't know if Thomas Shelden, a teacher who LAUSD put on administrative leave for 2 years because of allegations of sexual harassment of a fellow teacher, is guilty or not, but clearly reporter Jason Song doesn't know either and really doesn't seem to care. Being in a similar situation to Mr. Shelden, I have had 7 hours a day for the last 3 months to not spend "the day napping, watching television, taking walks and lifting weights," but rather researching and writing a minimum of 5 articles a week mostly about the corruption and incompetence that Reporter Jason Song must also be all too aware of, but never seems to get around to reporting.

On Saturday, I went to the 14th LAUSD Parents Summit at the Los Angeles Convention Center to pass out

Teacher Un-Des Moines Her Own Protest | Intercepts

Teacher Un-Des Moines Her Own Protest

by Mike Antonucci

This video of an education budget protest at a Des Moines middle school went viral last week after appearing onHotAir.com. Take a look at it and see if you can figure out why.
If you didn’t catch it, one of the students is holding a sign that reads, “Save Are Teachers.”

The protest actually took place before school on March 8. It was organized by teacher Theresa Hoffman with the principal’s permission. You can read the story about it in the March 22 issue of the Iowa State Daily.
Hoffman is the students’ language arts teacher and is retiring after 33 years in the profession. She had the vigor and drive to put the rally together, lead the students in chants and notify the local news media, but evidently

Teaching division to disappear in latest DOE reshuffling | GothamSchools

Teaching division to disappear in latest DOE reshuffling

by Philissa Cramer

The Division of Teaching and Learning is set to disappear under the latest reorganization at the city’s education department.

The move is part of a slate of changes intended to streamline the department’s organization, according to spokesman David Cantor. He called the changes, which include the creation of a deputy chancellor for community engagement position, “an organic next step” in the series of administrative shifts that have taken place under Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

The teaching and learning office, which is on its fourth leader since 2007, is getting folded into the Division of School Support, which contains the network structure that currently manages how schools receive administrative assistance. The new office will be called the Division of School Support and Instruction and will be headed by Chief Schools Officer Eric Nadelstern, giving him authority over the central piece of schools’ business for the first time.

“Obviously the aim is to make instruction as effective as can be, but I don’t think anyone’s going to see any kind of sudden shift in the way we go about teaching kids, and nor do we want that,” Cantor said. “The point is

California weighs longshot bid for school funds

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, April 26, 2010

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After coming in 27th out of 40 states the first time, California would have an uphill climb to win up to $700 million in the next round for federal Race to the Top education funds - an effort state officials could decide this week is a losing battle.
Or California could ignore the odds and decide to go for it.
The governor and education leaders are expected to announce as early as Tuesday whether they'll apply for the second round of federal school reform funding - a $4 billion pot to be spread among states that make the cut.
California failed to make it as a finalist in the first round, falling well shy of the points needed to get funding. Delaware and Tennessee were the only states that won first-round funding, receiving about 450 out of 500 possible points by coming up with plans with broad support to overhaul their school system.
California posted a final score of 336.8.
"There were some major gaps in our application," said David Richey, spokesman for

Senators Reintroduce Professional-Development Bill - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Senators Reintroduce Professional-Development Bill

by Stephen Sawchuk

Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., George LeMieux, R-Fla., and Sharrod Brown, D-Ohio, last week introduced a bill to overhaul the definition of "professional development" in the current ESEA. This may seem like peanuts compared with all the wrangling going on about school improvement and accountability, but considering that that definition is supposed to guide spending under Title I (disadvantaged students) and II (teacher quality) in the law, it's a potentially significant move.
The new definition would be much more specific than the former one in spelling out that federally funded professional development must take place during the regular school day and must focus on having teams of educators analyze evidence of student learning and teachers' classroom practices.
The bill would also add a new Part E to Title II of ESEA and authorize $1 billion in formula grants to states and districts. In addition to supporting professional development, they could use the funding to institute comprehensive mentoring programs for new teachers; craft new teacher- and principal-evaluation systems; and create new leadership opportunities for teachers.
On the whole, the bill is similar to one that Reed and other senators introduced back in 2007, but there are a few additions. Of these, the most important is that grantees under the new program would now be required to engage

The Educated Guess Capistrano strike enters 2nd week

The Educated Guess

Capistrano strike enters 2nd week

Posted in Revenue and taxes, State Budget, pay

All eyes are on Capistrano Unified, the state’s eighth largest school district, as its teachers’ strike enters into a second week today. Negotiators reported progressover the weekend but not enough forestall a third day of picket lines.
The Orange County Register reported that teachers and school boards have reached an impasse at 100 districts in California, but Captistrano Unified, with 51,000 students, is the only one so far facing a strike. That could change Thursday, when teachers in Oakland Unified go on a one-day strike over the contract that the school board imposed.
(Read more and comment on this post)

American Idol Government � The Quick and the Ed

American Idol Government

by Chad Aldeman

First there was the SAVE Award, an Obama Administration initiative to solicit ideas from federal government employees on how to save money. Four finalists were chosen, and then a public voting process determined the winner. Now there’s the Commencement Challenge, a process to determine at which high school President Obama will

Improving Student Success: What the Higher Education Community Can Learn From Minority-Serving Institutions

In April 2010, Education Sector hosted an important discussion about the role minority-serving institutions play in improving student success in college, and what the higher education community can learn from from these institutions.

March for California’s Future Strengthens Movement for Change | California Progress Report

March for California’s Future Strengthens Movement for Change

by christine

By Rachel Johnson
California Labor Federation
Yesterday marked the end of a long journey for hundreds of devoted teachers, union members and community activists marching for a better future for California. The March for California’s Futurebegan in Bakersfield on March 5, highlighting the need for quality public education and services, an effective and efficient state government and the return of fair and equitable taxes to California.
Organized by the California Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and other labor unions and community allies, this 48-day march made headlines and drew attention to damaging budget cuts and the lack of good jobs available to Californians.
read more

North Penn School District Teachers' Strike Enters Second Week - cbs3.com

North Penn Teachers Strike Heads To Court

Students in the North Penn School District are facing their second week without class as teachers continue to strike.

With reports of problems during negotiations between the teachers' union and district officials, the ongoing battle is expected to go to court.

The school board is expected at an injunction hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse Monday. Officials hope a court order will get teachers back in the classroom by Wednesday as state law says students must have 180 days of instruction before the end of June.

The union said they will ask the judge to order round-the-clock negotiations until the contract dispute is resolved.

The union representing the district's more than 1,000 teachers sought to resume talks over the weekend with the district, but says the school board negotiator did not respond.

Teachers hit the picket lines last week after the district

Strip Miners in Our Schools :: Frederick M. Hess

Frederick M. Hess's Blog

Strip Miners in Our Schools

by Frederick M. Hess • Apr 26, 2010 at 9:19 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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In a new forum in the quarterly journal Education Next, Education Trust honcho Kati Haycock and Stanford economist Rick Hanushek address the issue of whether and how to more "equitably" distribute teachers (full disclosure: I'm an executive editor of Ed Next). With characteristic passion, Haycock calls for efforts to focus on attracting good teachers to high-poverty, low-performing schools. I strongly support what Haycock has to say in the exchange, but I worry about the possibility that some of her allies may take her suggestions too far.

In Ed Next, Haycock argues, "We know it is possible to bring high-quality teachers into urban schools...Districts can move up timelines for teacher resignations and transfers and give principals in hard-to-staff schools first dibs on new entrants and transfers. States and districts can establish a policy of 'mutual consent' that gives principals the right to choose their own teachers...States and districts can eliminate seniority-based layoffs, which should consider effectiveness instead, and make it easier to transfer or remove ineffective teachers who cannot improve."

Moreover, Haycock cautions, "Nobody thinks forced reassignments are a good solution and nobody is seriously proposing it. Every once in a while, district leaders become frustrated and make noises about the possibility of forced reassignments. But...a better solution lies in a creative combination of targeted incentives for teachers and policies that empower administrators and school leaders to recruit and retain effective educators." What

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Monday, April 26, 2010